


Stiles Stilinski: The Accidental Babysitter

by whenshewrites



Series: A Collection of One-Shots and Tumblr Prompts [36]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Accidental Werewolf Pup Acquisition, Derek Hale is Good With Kids, Derek Hale is a Mess, Derek Hale is a Softie, Derek's Kid is a Puppy, Fluff, Humor, In a Chaotic Way, Kid Fic, M/M, One Shot, Original Character(s), Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pre-Slash, Single Parent Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski is Good with Kids, Stiles Stilinski is a Mess, Tumblr Prompt, Writer Stiles Stilinski, accidental babysitting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:13:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25273723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whenshewrites/pseuds/whenshewrites
Summary: Stiles didn’t know what to think of his new neighbor.Partly because he’d only seen him in glimpses and partly because he was pretty sure the man had no control over his kid. Not like Stiles judging except the kid kept coming to him.Every single day when Stiles least expected it.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: A Collection of One-Shots and Tumblr Prompts [36]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1956889
Comments: 83
Kudos: 1135





	Stiles Stilinski: The Accidental Babysitter

Stiles didn’t know what to think of his new neighbor.

Partly because he’d only seen him in glimpses and partly because he was pretty sure the man had no control over his kid. Not like Stiles judging or anything— he knew for a fact he’d been a difficult child too— except the kid kept coming to  _ him _ . 

Every single day when Stiles least expected it.

He was pretty sure the kid had found a secret passageway into his house that Stiles didn’t know about or something. Because honestly, Stiles didn’t have any other explanation for it. 

There he would be, minding his own business, trying to get some writing done, and then bam! There’d be an eight-year-old in his house. Going through his things, wandering from room to room, or just staring at Stiles and startling the crap out of him when Stiles finally snapped out of his writing stupor.

At one point, he’d been terrified the kid was possessed or something. But Stiles was pretty sure he’d just seen way too many horror movies.

Stiles… should probably do something about it, he figured. He should confront his neighbor or at least let him know that his kid was an escape artist. But instead, Stiles would usually just entertain the boy, let him ramble about his day for a bit, and then walk him right back to his house.

Stiles wasn’t good with children, he didn’t think. And his new neighbor kind of terrified him.

Stiles had seen him once or twice; all angry-browed and scowly faced. He was pretty sure the guy was either a serial killer or a hitman or something, and both of those options scared the shit out of him. So he’d kept his distance from day one. 

The guy was drop-dead gorgeous, though. Stiles could admit that out loud.

It was another lazy Thursday when Stiles looked up from his laptop to see Ben standing in the doorway of his office. Stiles didn’t even react anymore. Instead, he just sighed and raised a brow, offering the kid his best smile.

“Good afternoon, Ben. Escape the house again?”

“I’m napping.”

“Oh right,” Stiles said, swallowing a laugh and bringing his third mug of coffee that day to his lip. “So the usual then. You know, your father is going to find out one day and think I’ve kidnapped you or something.”

Ben only shrugged and moved into the room, dropping into the chair opposite Stiles’s desk. He was still wearing his pj’s, Stiles noticed. Even though it was literally like two o’clock in the afternoon.

“My dad likes you.”

“Your father has never spoken to me, kiddo.”

“He thinks the guy next door is cute.”

Stiles choked on his coffee, setting it down to give Ben an incredulous look. Suddenly, he was a little panicked. Because did the guy know his son snuck out during nap time almost every day to pay Stiles a visit? Did he  _ approve? _

Stiles was pretty sure there was something not right with that.

“Ben, does your father know about… this?”

“... No.”

“But he knows about me.”

“Dad says you watch him from the window.”

Stiles narrowly refrained from choking on his own spit this time. He did not do that— he didn’t! Sometimes, Stiles just got curious. He would like to know the man whose kid Stiles accidentally babysat for about an hour every other day after all. 

Plus, muscles and eyebrows. Was Stiles supposed to not look?

Okay, he was supposed to not look.

“I don’t look,” Stiles grumbled, turning back toward his laptop. “I just peek sometimes.”

“That’s worse.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the kid over the top of his screen. But Ben only fidgeted on the chair and then jumped up, wandering out of the room. Stiles was pretty sure he should chase after him or something but the kid was like eight years old, right? He could probably handle himself.

The worst thing Ben ever did was raid his fridge anyway. Well, one time the kid had attempted to make art on his walls, but Stiles had dealt with that.

“The gogurts are on the bottom shelf!” he called. 

The last time Ben had tried to get to his food on the top shelf, he’d ended up nearly scaling Stiles’s fridge like spiderman. But Stiles had dealt with that too.

Or something.

Stiles had tried to tell Lydia about this once, but then she’d proceeded to list off all the ways he could get arrested and ruined for letting a child into his house every few days. So Stiles had pretended he’d dealt with it and then never brought up the subject again.

Scott told him to just confront his neighbor. Stiles had said he appreciated having a throat.

This had been going on for… was it three or four months now? The kid had started showing up about a week after they’d moved in, just knocking on Stiles’s door one day and then letting himself in when Stiles opened up. 

He hadn’t known what to do then. And he still didn’t know what to do now, to be honest.

Ben came in a little later with a gogurt tube stuck in his mouth and pink yogurt on his face. Stiles snorted over his computer, raising a brow. 

“Is that good?”

The kid only nodded, plopping back into the chair. Stiles shook his head and returned to his document. Soon, the only sounds filling the air was Ben giving the poor yogurt the inhaling of a lifetime and the click of keys as Stiles attempted to get some work done today.

Lydia didn’t take late submissions. Stiles would say he hated her as an agent, except he really didn’t. He probably would have flailed out of the market on his own without her.

Words were hard today.

Eventually, Stiles sighed and gazed back at the boy sitting across from him before turning his eyes toward the clock. It had nearly been an hour and he knew Ben’s naptime was only sixty-minutes long. He raised an eyebrow at the boy, who had somehow managed to get yogurt in his hair too.

“How do you plan on explaining that, little man?”

Ben just smiled. Stiles rolled his eyes.

“Okay, kiddo, you’ve gotta go. Nap time’s nearly up, I still have twenty pages to write, and I can’t go to jail for kidnapping or my father will have my hide.”

“Your dad?”

“My dad. A literal Sheriff. Who would not appreciate his only son being on the other end of the law.”

Ben blinked at him for a moment. Then the kid pushed himself and left the room, and Stiles had no idea how he got from place to place because he never even heard the front door open or close. Were eight-year-olds magic or something?

Probably.

Stiles shook his head, glancing at the empty gogurt packet on his floor, the yogurt rubbed his other chair, and then at the near-blank document sitting in front of him. Sighting, he attempted to get back to work.

This was his life, ladies and gentlemen. An entire mess.

-

Two days later, there was a knock on his door.

Stiles was pretty sure he hadn’t ordered pizza or anything. Sometimes he forgot though, so he might just be more tired today than he had originally assumed. In nothing but his sweatpants and an old t-shirt, Stiles plodded toward the front door and opened it up with a crisp five-dollar bill already in hand.

Except it wasn’t the pizza delivery guy.

Stiles froze, staring at his next-door neighbor, Ben at his side holding his father’s hand. And in that moment, Stiles realized this was it. This was how he died.

He’d never meant to be a kidnapper.

He stared for a long moment, his throat starting to close in panic. Then the guy raised an eyebrow and Stiles finally found his voice, forcing a smile.

“Uh, hey dude. You’re not here to murder me, are you?”

The man’s eyebrows raised even higher. Ben let go of his father’s hand and ducked around Stiles’s legs, making a beeline straight for the kitchen, and Stiles knew he was dead.

“Oh,” he said in a small voice. “I think he’s going for the gogurts.”

“Gogurts?”

Normally, the guy’s voice would probably make Stiles melt; a little soft, a little gruff, and it’d probably be even hotter in bed. But Stiles— Stiles wasn’t thinking like that! He was not getting a boner five minutes before he either got arrested or killed.

But then to his surprise, the man stepped into his house too. Stiles wondered if this was a family trait or something. That thought terrified him even more.

“Uh, dude? Can I help you?”

“My name is Derek,” the guy said. “Don’t call me dude.”

“Okay, Derek. Can I help you?”

“Ben,” Derek suddenly called, instead of answering the question. Ben wasn’t even in the same room and Stiles was pretty sure the kid couldn’t hear his dad. But Derek didn’t seem fazed, turning toward Stiles’s guest bedroom. “Stop jumping on the bed.”

Stiles blinked, staring in shock. He could’ve sworn when Derek looked back at him, there was a flash of blue in his eyes, but he had to just be seeing things.

“Ben… wanted to bring you this,” Derek said, pulling an envelope out of his pocket. Stiles took it silently, pulling the card out, and then choked on his own breath.

This was a  _ father’s day  _ card. But he was pretty sure father’s day had been days ago and… well, Stiles was pretty sure he wasn’t a father. He hadn’t been last time he checked at least. Derek ducked his head, suddenly looked a little red.

“He’s been working on it for a while.”

Stiles just stared. He didn’t know this guy, he barely knew his kid, and he most certainly wasn’t a father. Stiles wasn’t good with kids! Responsibility terrified him.

Derek blinked at him. Nervously, Stiles swallowed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Dude— Derek— I’m not going lie, I’m really confused.”

He was pretty sure the man turned even redder. Derek lowered his gaze, a hand rubbing over the back of his neck, then he hesitantly met Stiles’s gaze again.

The man had really pretty eyes, Stiles noticed. He was also pretty sure that was a very unhelpful thought.

“Ben likes you.”

Stiles blinked a few times. Then he flat out stared. “Wait, did you know he was coming over here?”

“... Yes?”

“Dude, I could’ve been a weirdo! A creeper! A… A… cat lady or something!”

Derek looked at him like he was crazy. Which Stiles was pretty sure was not fair, regarding the situation. “I know you’re not.”

“That’s so weird, dude.”

The man looked constipated for a moment, before ducking his head. “Ben has a difficultly making friends. He’s… like an untrained puppy sometimes. He follows his nose and it led him here. It’s not often that he imprints so well on people.”

Stiles was even more confused at this point. He blinked dumbly at Derek before the soft sound of footsteps stole his attention to where Ben came plodding out of Stiles’s guest bedroom to his father’s side. The boy’s hair was a mess and Stiles was pretty sure the bedroom probably was too.

He hadn’t even seen Ben go in there. He had no idea how Derek had known.

“Did you give it to him?” Ben asked, brown eyes wide. Derek nodded and traced his fingers through the boy’s hair before they danced over the back of his neck. For some reason, Stiles felt like he was looking in on something personal, quickly averting his eyes.

But then Ben tugged on the hem of his shirt. Stiles glanced back down, his earlier resolve softening.

“Can I still come over, Stiles?”

Stiles glanced up at Derek, who hesitated for only a moment before nodding. With a grin, Stiles knelt down and brushing the wrinkles from Ben’s shirt, nodding. 

“Yeah, little man. My door’s always open.”

“No, it’s not.”

Stiles barked a laugh. No, it wasn’t. But Ben found a way inside somehow anyway. The boy latched back onto his dad’s hand and Stiles pushed himself back up, meeting Derek’s gaze nervously. “So uh… lunch sometime?”

Derek’s brows flew up. Stiles felt his face grow hot.

“For Ben. You know, so you can be sure I’m not a creep or weirdo or cat lady or something.”

He could’ve sworn a small smile tugged at the man’s lips and that was a trip in itself. As if this entire visit hadn’t been. Derek nodded. 

“Lunch sometime.”

“Great, dude! Derek. Mr…?”

“Hale.”

“Hale,” Stiles said, grinning. “I’ll knock or something.”

“Or something.”

Stiles’s grin widened and he stepped aside, pulling the door open again. Ben all but pulled Derek out and the man looked over his shoulder, those pretty eyes searching Stiles’s face one more time. For a moment, he thought the man would say something else but then Derek only nodded and let his son pull him away again.

Stiles watched them down the sidewalk, the envelope and card still held tightly in his hand. He had no idea what had just happened or how he was still alive but he… he was okay with that. Cause Stiles didn’t know what to think of his new neighbor.

At all.

But he thought he could get used to him.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt: "Single dad Derek giving Stiles a father's day card" and I let it get away from me a little. But to be honest, this might be a universe I’ll have to add on to. I think it could end up being such a cute thing to continue! Of course, I'd love to hear what you guys thought <3
> 
> Come hang with me on Tumblr?
> 
> [the dumpster](https://when-she-writes-stuff.tumblr.com/)


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